Knees?

I found these on a recent hiking trip. I thought that only Cypress trees did this. Which trees will do this?

 

They belong to a swamp cypress. Taxodium distichum. See....

http://images.google.com/images?hl=...ium distichum knees&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

 

Yep, Taxodium distichum (Baldcypress).

 

Sorry being dumb here but what am I looking at please.
Liz

 

The cypress "knees" are the woody conical objects coming out of the ground in the photos.

 

My philosophy is that the only dumb questions are the ones you don't ask.

I thought I was too far north for Cypress.

The knees are circled in the pics below, and there are pics that show the area and a link to a thread on another forum that shows more about the area as a whole.

http://www.wildsurvive.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=73&topic=3854.0

 

Your not too far north. I see them up in Delaware when I go canoeing : )

 

Ah..cool, now if only Avocado trees would grow here I'd be great!

 

Thanks for the answer.
Are these an indication that it is actually one tree with lots of off shoots and these knees could turn into trees. I am trying to recall somewhere they found the worlds oldest tree but it is actually a whole grove that covers a large area.

This is not the one Iam thinking of
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7353357.stm

It may have been the largest in area. apparently all the same DNA

Found it I think this was the one

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i3/living_tree.asp

but it looks as tho this is branch propogation.

So back to the query "Why knees????"

Ta
Liz

 

Knees used to be considered a method of allowing oxygen to reach the roots
in saturated soils. I think that was debunked as a myth at some point, though
I'm not certain.

Regards
Chris

 

Thank you all for your help and input.

That's some very interesting reading, thank you!

 

Correct, there's no scientific evidence for oxygen exchange through them. There is actually as yet, no hard scientific evidence for any purpose for them at all - their function remains unknown.

I'm just waiting for someone to select a Taxodium clone that produces them very abundantly, and name it 'Mother Brown'.

 

Thanks Michael, that is very interesting. I spent a lot of time in the cypress swamps of the south and seeing them sticking up out of the water everywhere I had always assumed they were for oxygen.

 

Not catching the Mother Brown reference.

 

Ron just in case :)

Old song "Knees up Mother Brown"

http://www.diamondgeezers.org.uk/sounds/lyrics/kneesupmotherbrown.html

Liz